Some bad news if you were eagerly anticipating the release of an untethered jailbreak solution for iOS 4.2.1. The iPhone Dev Team has hinted that this solution – that was initially expected to launch by Christmas – could be delayed by a few days. In a message posted on Twitter, Comex from the iPhone Dev Team has said that he might be missing the Christmas deadline.

While there is an alternative solution available – one that the Dev Team may release if the current release fails to work appropriately – that solution may not be ideal considering that it will require users to take an SHSH blob backup for iOS 4.2b3. Also, the solution from Comex is expected to come with a univesal jailbreak tool that could help all iDevice owners including iPhone 4, Apple TV 2G and iPod Touch 4G.

iPhone 4 users looking for a way to unlock their device may not have to wait for long. According to a tweet posted by Sherif Hashim, one of the prominent hackers from the iPhone Dev Team, the unlock tool should be released in less than a month’s time – at least before January 16.

It is not clear if this new unlocking solution will be based on a new exploit or if Hashim will make use of a baseband exploit that was discovered sometime back. As you may recall, this exploit can be used to cover all basebands – including versions 02.10.04 (that is incorporated on iOS 4.1) and 03.10.01 that is bundled with iOS 4.2.1.

Last month, we had reported about the release of UltraSn0w unlock tool. That, however, only worked with the older iPhone models like the 3G and 3GS. So if you are an iPhone 4 user who is yet to break away from your contracted carrier, the time to do it should come soon.

You must be aware that the present iOS 4.2.1 jailbreaking tool works best only on the older models like iPhone 3G and 3GS. While iPhone 4 and iPad users too may jailbreak using the available version of RedSn0w, these users will need to make do with a tethered jailbreak. That means, every time you need to reboot your device, you will need to plug the handset to a computer – something that is not very convenient if you are always on the move.

Earlier this month, we had heard from the iPhone Dev Team that an alternative untethered jailbreak solution was on the way and that this should be released before Christmas. Now, a couple of weeks later, we hear that the deadline still holds. In response to an iPhone owner, the iPhone Dev Team has responded,

“@scotty6kids78 it’ll be here by Xmas (not because we’re sitting waiting for Xmas, but because it’s achievable deadline)”

So there you have it. You have at least one more Christmas gift on its way.

In case you have been following the iPhone jailbreaking scene, , you will be aware of the Limera1n bootrom exploit that is being used on the latest versions of RedSn0w to jailbreak iDevices. The exploit was discovered by George Hotz, aka GeoHot, and is a hardware exploit. This means, Apple cannot issue a software update to fix the exploit.

While Apple may be unable to fix the exploit on older iDevices, it looks like they may have taken to patching them at least on newly shipped models. An Apple customer who recently purchased an iPad realized that the jailbreak tools available in the market right now do not seem to be working with the new shipments. To be more precise, devices shipped after week 50 of 2010 appear to have resolved the issue.

If you are one who have purchased an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch very recently and think you may have got a device with a new bootrom, you can confirm this by checking out Settings App –> General –> About –> Serial Number. Does it read something like xx050xxxxxx? Then, you may have a non-jailbreakable device.

We will wait for more word from the Dev team about how these users can jailbreak their iDevices.

Update from the Dev Team :

“the 2 times Apple has fixed bootrom so far, the bootrom version # changed too. This is still showing 574.4, so I wouldn’t worry.”

Folks at the iPhone Dev Team have indicated that they have been working on a solution that will let these iPhone 3G and 3GS users to downgrade their iPhone baseband from the new 06.15.00 back to 05.15.04. While there is no clear indication on how this works, we do assume that the baseband downgrade will still keep these iPhones unlocked.

You may recall that the latest iPhone unlock solution works by upgrading the baseband of the iPhones to the original iPad firmware that was seen to be vulnerable to an exploit. Now if the baseband is downgraded, there is also a likelihood for the phone to get locked back.

There is no clarity on this as yet. We will get you some more info when we get it.

In case you haven’t been following this space much, a jailbreak solution for the recently launched iOS 4.2.1 is already available and is being used by a lot of iPhone users. However, it is currently a tethered jailbreak which means users will have to tether their iPhone to a computer every time they need to reboot their device.

Comex from the iPhone Dev Team has revealed that his team has been working on launching an untethered jailbreak system that could greatly simplify the iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak process. This was revealed in a series of tweets posted by Comex from his account.

The new release can be used on the newer iOS models like iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS (with newer bootrom) as well as iPod Touch 4G. The presently available untethered jailbreak techniques are only available for the older models like iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS with older bootrom.

When exactly is the new iOS 4.3 releasing? We had been expecting the upcoming iOS version to initially roll out in “mid-December“. However, reports published at the fag end November suggested that this release may have been delayed until next year.

Now reports from new sources seem to be indicating that the release may actually happen this month. This week rather. According to a recent article on CNET, Apple’s new iOS 4.3 update may happen as early as Thursday, December 9.

The consensus on the possible new features however stays. iOS 4.3 is expected to add support to subscription-based app pricing. At present, application developers may charge developers during download or in-app. However, there is no means to enable a subscription. The new pricing model will highly benefit magazine and newspaper publications that have been seriously exploring the iPad as a potential new channel to sell content.

If you own a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, you may occasionally want to downgrade to an older firmware. Under such circumstances, you will require what is called the SHSH blob for the older firmware. SHSH blobs are like a unique ID for your device at a particular firmware that is used by Apple to authenticate your device when it is connected to iTunes.

Conventionally, applications like TinyUmbrella are used for this purpose. A new app called iSHSHit has now been released that enables this process to happen directly from the iDevice. iSHSHit is a free download from the BigBoss repository on Cydia and by launching the application, you can choose to save the blob over the Cydia servers with just a simple tap of a button.

Once done, users may also choose to send a backup copy of the SHSH blob to their email address with another tap. The application is extremely simple to use and is quite nifty if you have already jailbroken your iDevice.

Now while the issue itself has died down, the problems haven’t. If you are someone who is still affected by the iPhone’s proximity sensor, a new tweak available on the Cydia app store will help you solve the issue. CallLock is an app available for download at $0.99 that will allow users to manually or automatically lock the iPhone screen during a call so that the user may not inadvertently hit the mute or hangup options. In case you are wondering about this being in conflict with the iPhone’s default actions, the developer notes that CallLock will override the default events when it is activated.

Folks at TiPb are pointing out to a bug on the new iOS 4.2 that we first mentioned over two months back – app folders on the iPhone or iPad seem to disappear inexplicably bringing all the stored apps back on to the homescreen. Apparently, Apple has not addressed this issue with the several iOS updates that it has issues since June when this issue was first noticed.

While Apple continues to stay mum on the bug, we hear that updating all the apps and then syncing them with iTunes (updated to the latest version) should address the issue. Alternately, you can also try out the fix that we had suggested in our earlier article –

1. Connect your iPhone to iTunes
2. From the left menu on iTunes, right click on your iPhone model and select ‘Back up‘. Wait for the backup process to complete
3. Now right click on your iPhone device on the left menu once again and select ‘Settings‘. Here, pick ‘Restore‘. Please remember this is only if you also need a firmware restore (Applicable to those who have unlocked their phones). Otherwise, from the ‘Settings‘, pick ‘Restore from Backup‘
4. If the system tries to sync files, cancel the process. Wait for the restoration to complete
5. Now perform restoration once again. Remember to pick the backup file created in Step 2. Wait for the process to complete

Does any of this resolve the bug? Don’t forget to tell us in the comments.